Writing instruments



June 17, 1958 c. ZANG WRITING INSTRUMENTS Filed Jan. 18, 1955 INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,839,030 Patented June 17, 1958 ice WRITENG INSTRUMENTS Cecil Zang, London, England Application lanuary 18, 1955, Serial No. 482,639

1 Claim. (Cl. 120-4203) This invention relates to writing instruments, such as ballpoint pens, of the kind comprising an outer casing containing a writing member, such as refill unit comprising an ink reservoir and a writing ball, which is spring-loaded so that its writing end is normally housed within the cusing, the writing end of the writing member being caused to project from the easing into a writing position by pressure on a plunger acting on the writing member and being held in the writing position by means of a releasable locking device.

According to the present invention, such an instrument is provided with a clip for holding it in a pocket or the like which clip has, extending transversely through the casing or shell of the instrument, a platform which has an aperture through which the plunger can pass, the said platform being spring-loaded so that it tends to move outwardly of the casing whereby an edge of the aperture will automatically engage a shoulder of the plunger whenever the plunger is displaced sufiiciently to place the writing member in its writing position and can be disengaged fromv the shoulder by movement of the platform inwardly of the casing.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate two embodiments of the invention:

Figure 1 is a sectional perspective view illustrating a ball-point pen with its writing ball exposed,

Figure 2 is a similar view of the same pen, but illustrating the pen with its writing ball enclosed in a casing of the pen, and

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of part of a modified pen.

in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, a writing instrument has an outer casing or shell which is preferably of a synthetic resin plastic material and is in two parts, the body 1 or lower part (when the instrument is in the writing position) having an externally threaded spigot portion 2 adapted to receive an internally threaded portion of a cap or upper part 3. The body 1 receives a refill unit 4 comprising an ink reservoir having a writing ball 5 at one end. The writing ball 5 can project through an opening 6 at the lower end of the body 1 and the ink reservoir extends out of the other end. A coil spring 7 surrounds the lower portion of the refill unit and bears against a shoulder or collar 8 on the outside of the refill unit 4 so that the spring '7 tends to position the unit with its writing ball 5 inside the body 1.

The cap 3 has two diametrically opposite transverse slots 9 near the top. A clip 10 (by which the instrument can be secured in a pocket or the like) has a turned-over portion or platform 11 which is engaged in these slots so as to extend transversely through the cap 3. This clip has a tongue 12 projecting above it to provide a leaf spring which bears against the outside of the cap 3 and tends to urge the platform 11 of the clip outwards of the cap.

The platform 11 has a keyhole shaped aperture or slot 13 the circular part of which loosely surrounds a metal plunger 14- extending axially of the cap 3 and projecting from the tap. The bottom of the plunger 14 is seated on the top of the refill unit 4 so that the unit can be urged to its Writing position by pressure on the plunger against the action of the coil spring 7. The plunger 14 has a peripheral groove or slot 15 providing a shoulder against which an edge of the slot 13 will engage automatically under the action of the spring tongue 3L2 whenever the peripheral groove or slot 15 registers with the slot 13. The groove or slot 15 is so disposed that it will be engaged whenever the plunger 14 is depressed sufficiently to position the refill unit 4 for writing. The refill unit 4 will be held in this position until the clip Ill is pressed towards the cap 3 (i. e. the platform 11 is moved inwards of the cap) sufficiently to disengage the edge of the slot 13 from the slot 15. The writing ball 5 will then be withdrawn inside the body by means of the coil spring 7.

A slightly modified pen is illustrated in Figure 4. In this construction a cap 16 of a pen contains a plunger 17 and has opposed slots 18 adapted to receive a platform 19 of a clip 29. The plunger is made of a synthetic resin plastic material and has a portion 21 of rectangular crosssection surrounded by a metal sleeve 22. This sleeve 22 passes through a rectangular slot 23 in the platform 19 and has on one side a slot 24 providing a shoulder adapted to be engaged by an edge of the slot when the Writing member (not shown) is in the Writing position. The clip has a spring tongue 25 which is positioned lower than the spring tongue 12 of the Figure 1 construction, but which ears against the outside of the cap in the same way.

It will be appreciated that the slotted portion of the clip can be urged outwardly by means other than the leaf spring, e. g. the clip can be given a second turn so as to press against the inside of the shell or casing.

What I claim is:

A writing instrument comprising an outer casing, a writing member which is housed within the casing, a spring for urging said writing member into a position in which its writing end is inside said casing, a plunger adapted to displace said writing member into a writing position in which said writing end is outside said casing and provided with a shoulder, a clip adapted to hold said writing instrument in a pocket, a platform extending from said clip transversely entirely through said casing to provide the sole connection of said clip to said casing and having an aperture through which said plunger can pass, said platform being movable transversely with respect to said casing, and a spring tongue on said clip tending to urge said platform to move outwardly of said casing whereby an edge defined by said aperture will engage said shoulder whenever said plunger has been depressed sufliciently to place said Writing member in said writing position and can be disengaged from said shoulder by movement of said platform inwardly of said casing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,270,914 Zimdars July 2, 1918 1,281,223 Stepanchak Oct. 8, 1918 2,559,555 Zepelovitch July 3, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 9,601 Sweden Feb. 18, 1899 641,595 Great Britain Aug. 16, 1950 286,888 Switzerland Mar. 2, 1953 

